Runway length on Lae; last takeoff

[Tom Swearengen]

Speaking about fuel capacity, I wonder what the runway length at Lae was, and the "usuable" runway length at Howland? Coud she have refueled at Howland, and with the weight, taken off?
Tom

[John Ousterhout]

North-south strip 4000 ft long, later extended to nearly a full mile ("Finding Amelia, pg 17).  Northeast-southwest strip 3000 ft long.  East-west strip 2400 ft, and aligned with the prevailing winds.  All were 150 ft wide. I think I read later on that the 2400 ft strip was extended some more, but a quick perusal didn't find it.
(later edit - these are the figures for Howland.  Lae had a 3000 foot strip. Sorry 'bout that)

[Martin X. Moleski, SJ]

I spent a little while this evening looking for Lae's runway length and can't seem to find any sources -- but I do seem to recall once reading that it was about 3000 ft. ...

It is not hard to search tighar.org with the terms "runway Lae" to see what sources are available on the website.

So, for example, that search turns up the Collopy Letter, which says:
"The take-off was hair-raising as after taking every yard of the 1000 yard runway from the north west end of the aerodrome towards the sea, the aircraft had not left the ground 50 yards from the end of the runway.     
"When it did leave it sank away but was by this time over the sea. It continued to sink to about five or six feet above the water and had not climbed to more than 100 feet before it disappeared from sight."



     

[Mona Kendrick]

It is not hard to search tighar.org with the terms "runway Lae" to see what sources are available on the website.

So, for example, that search turns up the Collopy Letter, which says:
"The take-off was hair-raising as after taking every yard of the 1000 yard runway from the north west end of the aerodrome towards the sea, the aircraft had not left the ground 50 yards from the end of the runway.     
"When it did leave it sank away but was by this time over the sea. It continued to sink to about five or six feet above the water and had not climbed to more than 100 feet before it disappeared from sight."



     

     Thanks, Marty.  I've been using the wrong search boxes.

[Harry Howe, Jr.]

Mona
Three runways, see J.O.'s comment #33 above.

[Mona Kendrick]

Mona
Three runways, see J.O.'s comment #33 above.

     Comment #33 is a description of the runways at Howland.  There was only one runway at Lae.

[Gary LaPook]

North-south strip 4000 ft long, later extended to nearly a full mile ("Finding Amelia, pg 17).  Northeast-southwest strip 3000 ft long.  East-west strip 2400 ft, and aligned with the prevailing winds.  All were 150 ft wide. I think I read later on that the 2400 ft strip was extended some more, but a quick perusal didn't find it.

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The runway was 1,000 yards long by 120 yards wide according to the official airport diagram drafted by the controlling agency, the Civil Aviation Branch of Australia which governed New Guinea at the time, See attached diagram.
gl

[Gary LaPook]

North-south strip 4000 ft long, later extended to nearly a full mile ("Finding Amelia, pg 17).  Northeast-southwest strip 3000 ft long.  East-west strip 2400 ft, and aligned with the prevailing winds.  All were 150 ft wide. I think I read later on that the 2400 ft strip was extended some more, but a quick perusal didn't find it.

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You're talking about the runways on Howland not at Lae.

gl